“A lot of people don’t see that in me often, just because away from the rink, I’m a pretty easy-going person,” Reimer said in response. “But definitely, when the mask goes on, it’s a different person.”

And the suggestion, from the host on Sportsnet 590 The FAN, was that Reimer will need that spirit when the Toronto Maple Leafs open training camp next month, with his status as one of their most pressing questions. Toronto acquired goaltender Jonathan Bernier in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings earlier this summer, and he will challenge Reimer for his role as the team’s starter.

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“He’s a good goalie, he’s had great stats, and he’s played really well when he was called upon last year, and in the years before, with L.A.,” Reimer told the station in an interview on Wednesday. “He’s obviously coming in and wanting to be the No. 1 guy. But obviously, I’m going to do everything I can to stay the No. 1 and to be the best for the team.”

Reimer said the two have spoken.

The one thing that you always try to do is you create, ‘you win you’re in’

“I’m sure they made the trade because they thought we could have a pretty good battle between me and Reimer,” Bernier told NHL.com on Tuesday. “And that’s what I’m looking for, to get a chance to prove what I can do and get some playing time and hopefully fit well on my new team.”

Reimer, 25, the incumbent starter, has more experience and a (slightly) better career save-percentage. Bernier, 25, has spent the last three seasons picking up playing time wherever he could behind Jonathan Quick, who led the Kings to a Stanley Cup in 2012.

Reimer is heading into the final year of his contract, which will carry a cap hit of US$1.8-million. Bernier has two seasons remaining on his deal, with an annual cap hit of US$2.9-million. (According to capgeek.com, the combined US$4.7-million places the Leafs right in the middle of the pack in terms of league spending on goaltending tandems.)

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle toyed with the notion of employing a rotation of Reimer and then-understudy Ben Scrivens at one point last season, saying during a slump in March the team was waiting “for somebody to show us that they’re going to grab the net.”

Reimer eventually became that goaltender, finishing the season with a career-best .924 save-percentage, but that was apparently not enough to win the full confidence of team management. (He had a save-percentage of .923 over his seven starts in the playoffs.)

“The one thing that you always try to do is you create, ‘you win you’re in,’” Carlyle told reporters earlier this summer. “And winning is what we’re here to do. We’re here to win hockey games.”

Toronto managed to win a few hockey games with Reimer last season, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in nine years. The Leafs built a three-goal lead on the Boston Bruins — the eventual Stanley Cup finalists — into the third period of Game 7 in their first-round series.

“I’d never played playoff hockey in the NHL before,” Reimer told The FAN on Wednesday. “I thought I played well. So you can always look back on that and see what you did well. Obviously, the ending, like we all know, was one of the worst ways possible — but you learn how to stay mentally tough.”